Life in the Fast Lane
by crimsonengineer5
Summary: Vot may be a clumsy girl with bad luck, but she is one heck of a stock car driver. Carl has all the smooth moves & good luck to go along with his talents as a driver. What happens when their paths meet? This is a story centered around the sport of NASCAR.


**Chapter 1**

Bob the Builder Breaks the Shiny New Toy

Carl sat in the waiting area of the Charlotte International Airport. He had just returned from a team trip and was waiting on the airport staff to retrieve his lost luggage. He was extremely frustrated, but, as usual, he held his temper and was polite to the airport personnel. _Two suitcases? How do you lose two suitcases that size?_ he thought to himself, hiding the aggravation on the outside with a calm, collected front. _How long has this airline been in business? Ugh, seriously. It does--_ Carl's internal ranting and raving was interrupted by the sound of what seemed to be another very disgruntled customer. Only it wasn't the airport that this customer appeared to have a problem with.

"Hello? HELLO?!" A girl with dark brown hair was standing at the pay phone next to the information desk. Carl did his best not to look, but his curiosity had gotten the better of him. The girl slammed the phone back on the receiver. Propping herself up on the payphone booth with her hands, she looked as though she was trying to gain composure. Once she had apparently done so, she reached in her pockets, dug around for a few seconds, and pulled out a handful of change.

After inserting the change in the dinosaur of a machine, she dialed and waited for the person on the other end to answer. Carl wasn't purposely being nosey and eavesdropping. He had been there for over an hour waiting on his luggage to be located, and this was the most action he had seen. For the most part, he had been the only one in the waiting area. This gave him something else to study and think about, at least for a few minutes. Whoever the girl was trying to reach had answered. Carl had turned his head as to not be rude but was still straining to hear her end of the conversation.

"Why did you hang up on me? You know that my cell phone is dead and that I'm having to use a payphone." The girl was surprisingly calm for the words that were coming out of her mouth. "Kurt, I told you I'm _trying_. I can't do anything about my plane not being here on time….Oh, would you give that a rest?! The only thing that I could possibly be cheating on you with would be this phone, and frankly, it just doesn't quite get me going like you do, jerk.....Will you let me talk to Kyle, please?" She threw her free hand up in the air and huffed loudly. At this point, Carl's curiosity had definitely gotten the better of him, and he was looking at her again.

_ Kurt? And Kyle? _he thought to himself. His thoughts were again interrupted. It was strange to him that this girl would be so calm when, from what he gathered, she should have been fairly frustrated.

"Why are you doing this again? We have had this discussion a thousand times. I'm not cheating on you! There is nowhere in the world that I would rather be right now than where you and Kyle are. It's not my fault that the pilot is late with the plane. You're the one who wanted to send me a private jet to fly out in."

_ Private jet? Well, maybe…_Carl continued with his thoughts.

"Will you at least let me talk to Kyle one time before you decide to hang up on me again? I'm not sure that I have enough change to call you back….Please, Kurt? Don't do this to me. I'm already upset that I'm not there to celebrate with you guys….Thank you." She tapped her fingers nervously on the payphone booth.

Carl was officially confused. It sounded like the girl was talking to her boyfriend, Kurt, who was accusing her of cheating because she was late for a party. Not just a party, but a celebration. Then there was Kyle. Who was Kyle to this whole situation?

"Kyle," she stopped to listen to what Kyle was saying. "Oh, not you too. You cannot possibly believe that. You know me better than Kurt does…Ouch. That hurts. Thanks, friend…Look, I promise I'll be there as soon as I can. I wouldn't miss this for the world. I am so proud of you…What? You don't want me to come? Stay here?...Kyle…We are best friends. I don't understand…" The girl trailed off, obviously taken aback by whatever it was that Kyle had said.

Carl looked down to check the time on his phone. It had been almost two hours and still, no luggage. He returned his interest to the girl, who had completely captured his attention for the time being. He wasn't sure who Kurt or Kyle was, but he had an idea. It would make sense if they were the Busch brothers, but he had no way of knowing for sure. He could ask the girl, but then she would know that he had been eavesdropping on her conversation. She appeared to be completely beside herself with whatever Kyle had suggested, which was something to the effect of him not wanting her wherever he was. To his surprise, this bothered Carl. These two guys seemed to be very rude and inconsiderate of the girl's feelings. Even worse, she seemed to be even more considerate of their feelings than her own. His thought was distracted with a sudden loud slam of the phone.

The girl then began digging in her pockets for more change. She didn't have enough, so she sat her purse on the floor and started searching. There just wasn't enough. She had been right. Carl was confused again because he had obviously missed something while his hypotheses were running in his head. She sat on the floor beside her purse and propped against the wall next to the payphone. Sighing with defeat, she leaned her head back.

Though it was none of his business, Carl felt compelled to help her out. He decided to get up and go talk to her to see if there was anything he could do. As he got closer to her, her facial features became more apparent to him. Her hair was a darkish chocolate color, and her skin was a light complexion. Her face was marked by lightly blushed cheeks that seemed to go perfectly with her dominant nose and big hazel eyes. She was tall for a girl and slender. He was careful to approach her, as she looked exasperated.

"Hi," he said in a careful but kind voice. "Um, I couldn't help but noticing that you were using a payphone, and that's, well, kinda weird to see these days."

The girl forced a smile, and shook her head. "Yeah, I know. My phone just killed over. Like, for good, and this is the only way I had to get a hold of anyone. Now, of course, I'm out of change."

"Well, if you need to use a phone, you can borrow my cell phone. I have unlimited minutes, so you can use it for as long as you need."

"Nah. I don't need it. The people I was trying to reach don't wanna talk to me, so I'd just be wasting both our time."

Carl gave her an odd look. She just smiled, shook her head, and rubbed her face in her hands. They both sat there in silence. He didn't know what to say, and she appeared to just want to scream. Carl finally spoke.

"Well, if you change your mind, I'll be sitting over there." He pointed to the waiting area. "The, uh, airport lost my luggage, and I've been here for two hours. I'm not leaving till I get it, though, so I should be at your service for a while."

"Thanks," she said, smiling at him again. "I appreciate it."

He turned back toward his seat to go sit back down.

"Hey," she finally said, calling after him. "You know, I think I'm gonna take you up on your offer."

He turned and handed her his cell phone. She dialed a number and waited. "Hey," she said, once again in a calm, collected tone. "It's me. Vot. Your girlfriend…Someone at the airport let me borrow their phone…It came up on your caller ID as Carl? Carl who?..." She stopped talking and turned to face Carl, who, of course, was listening to her every word.

So he had suspected correctly. It was indeed Kurt and Kyle Busch. What other two guys named Kurt and Kyle would have him programmed into their phone? She had a confused look on her face, and he just shrugged his shoulders. She turned away from him again to continue the conversation.

"Ha. Seriously? Oh, that's great. You really think that I am cheating on you with, with, with…with Carl Edwards?!" She covered the phone, looked back at Carl, and mouthed _I'm sorry_ to him. Carl, who found this amusing, simply laughed and waved his hand in an accepting fashion. She returned to the phone.

"You're unbelievable, Kurt. Freaking unbelievable! Actually, no. This is completely believable, and I'm tired of it. I've been dealing with this for over two years from day one. It's over. For real, this time…Yeah, well, see you around, I guess. Tell Kyle that I'm still here for him if he needs me, whether he cares or not." Click. And just like she had said, it was over.

She walked toward Carl and sat in the seat next to him. "Thanks," she said with not distress, but rather, relief in her voice. She handed Carl his phone.

"Are you ok? I mean, over two years? You should be wallowing in a bathroom stall or something," he said, concerned about the way she was handling it. This was not normal behavior for someone who had just ended a relationship that had been going on three years.

She looked down and shook her head. "I'm fine. I have just been dealing with that for so long that I couldn't take it anymore. I've seen this coming for a while, actually. I mean, it really sucks that I lost my best friend over it. Now that, I may not recover from." She paused a second to think. "So, Carl Edwards…" She gave a questioning look.

He gave a sheepish smile and said, "Yeah. Sorry I didn't tell you who I was sooner, but how could I have known that you were Kurt Busch's girlfriend and Kyle Busch's best friend? I mean, small world much?"

"Well, that would be ex-girlfriend and ex-best friend, but yeah. It is a small world, I guess. By the way, I'm Vot." She held out a hand for a handshake.

He shook her hand and nodded. "Vot. Yeah, I know who you are now. Jack's gonna sign you. I just never knew what you looked like. Now, fortunately, I know."

"Fortunately? What does that mean?"

"Oh, I mean, so I know what my new teammate is gonna look like. Ya know, I think it's gonna be cool having a girl for a teammate."

"Really?" Vot said with a little surprise. "Wow, that's exactly the opposite of Kurt's opinion. He was trying his best to talk me out of signing with a Cup team. Said I couldn't handle racing amongst a bunch of men twice my size." She shook her head to herself.

"Well, I wouldn't make that call until I saw what you could do on the track, ya know? Judging by how you handled that situation, I'd say that you're gonna do just fine—" Carl was cut off by someone taping him on the shoulder. It was an airport worker informing him that his luggage had been found and was ready for pick-up in the luggage room. After going over details with the worker, he turned back to Vot.

"Well, that's my luggage, finally. Only took them three and a half hours."

"Oh, ok. Well, it was nice to meet you officially. At least I'll know someone on the team before the first testing session. See you around, I guess."

Carl started to tell her good-bye when it dawned on him. _Is she still waiting on that plane?_ he thought to himself. Then he decided to ask. "Um, are you still waiting on the plane to come and get you?"

She hadn't thought about it. "Well, I guess not, since I'm not going where it's headed. I guess I'll just call a cab--"

"A cab? You didn't drive here?"

"No…Kurt sent me a driver to bring me over to catch the plane. I guess he couldn't trust me driving around by myself. Remember, I'm supposed to be off with you somewhere cheating on him."

Carl gave a short laugh, then sniffed. "Can't say that I blame you. But seriously, do you want me to drive you somewhere? I mean, where are you staying? You're obviously not from Charlotte."

"I'm staying at the Holiday Inn. I was in town to sign the contract for Jack. I was just gonna fly to Las Vegas to see Kurt and Kyle and fly back for the meeting, then back to Bama."

"Well, I could take you to the hotel. It's not too far out of my way. And I promise I don't mind."

"If you're sure you don't mind, then I don't really have a choice. I really hate cabs…and cabbies."

He laughed and smiled. "Of course, I don't mind. After all, we gotta work as a team, ya know. Go get your stuff, and we'll load up."

"Ok, just let me go to the restroom first, and we can go. Thanks, by the way."

He nodded shyly. She turned and went to the women's restroom. After the first few seconds, Carl could tell it was going to be a few minutes. It wasn't until his stomach gargled at him that he realized he hadn't eaten lunch. They would definitely have to get something to eat before he took her all the way to the hotel. It was thirty minutes away, so he had told her a small fib to get her to agree. He couldn't bear the thought of her having to ride in a horrible cab after the day she'd had. His belly grumbled at him again. It had become evident that his stomach wasn't even going to wait that long. He had spotted a vending machine earlier before Vot had shown up. He dug in his pockets for some change, and pulled out some quarters. He punched in a one, four, and a seven. A Snickers bar fell down, and he reached and got it out. He was ready to tear into the wrapper as he headed back to his waiting spot. Fiddling with the wrapper and not paying attention to his surroundings, he smacked right into Vot as he rounded the corner.

The candy bar went flying up in the air and landed with a splat, as did Vot. Carl hadn't so much as wavered. He immediately bent down to help her up and too apologize. He reached out his hand for her to grab, but to his surprise, she didn't reach back up. All she could do was wince and roll away from Carl, grabbing her right arm. He went white as he asked her if she was ok.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" Carl wasn't buying that. She could barely get the words out of her mouth from obvious pain.

"Vot, are you ok? Tell me the truth, and I'm serious."

Through clenched teeth, she managed to squeak out, "I think my arm is broken."

Carl's face turned even whiter. He had known her for a mere two hours, and he had already broken her arm. _Jack is just gonna love me. I killed his new driver. I hope she's not right-handed. She won't even be able to sign the freakin' contract_, he thought to himself. Privately panicking, he looked around for some sort of airport personnel. He spotted a short woman at the information desk.

"Hang on. I'm gonna go see if I can get some help," he said to her as he sprinted to talk to the woman.

"Um, I have an emergency over there. My friend has fallen, and she thinks she may have broken her arm. Is there anywhere here where I can take her to get looked at?"

The woman thought for a second as she heard the urgency in his tone. "Yes," she finally answered. "We have a first aid office just down the hall. Can she walk?"

Carl turned and looked at Vot who was still laying in the floor, rolled over on her side, and clinching her arm. He turned back to the woman and said, "If she can't, I can carry her."

The woman nodded and said, "Follow me, then."

Carl ran back to Vot. "There's a first aid office down the hall. I'm gonna carry you over there, ok? I'm gonna pick you up. You ready?"

She shook her head as if to say she was fine and she could walk on her own, but she didn't appear to be making much of an effort to do so. Carl ignored her shaking head, and picked her up into a cradle. He walked as quickly as he could without hurting her any further. Once they arrived to the first aid office, Carl followed the woman into the patient room. He had no idea that airports had first aid offices like this, but in this instance, he was very thankful that there were such things. The nurse came back and asked Vot a few questions, and Vot answered them the best she could. The nurse had confirmed what Vot had said earlier. Her right arm was broken. The nurse called for an ambulance to take them to the nearest emergency room so Vot could get her arm set in a cast.

It was a seemingly long trip to the ER to Carl. He was sure that it was even longer to Vot, since it was her arm that was broken. They arrived at the nearest hospital and went straight back. Carl had an eerie suspicion that this was due to who he was. Normally, that would have bothered him, but in this case, he was glad. He just wanted her arm to be unbroken. The doctor finally came back. He examined her arm and sent her back to have an x-ray taken of her arm. Once she was on pain medication, Vot's tightened face finally began to relax. Carl hadn't been able to say anything to her other than that he was sorry. He suspected that it was beginning to grate on her nerves slightly, but he couldn't help but feel terrible.

"I know I've said it like a million times, but I'm really sorry I killed your arm," he said once again.

She laughed at his way of putting it and said, "It's ok. I'm really not mad, I promise. I'll be ok. No biggie. I've had way worse…I think. Don't beat yourself up over it. You know you can leave anytime you need to."

He couldn't believe that she was even suggesting that he leave. He was the reason she was in here. What was wrong with her? She had called it quits with her boyfriend of over two years, and didn't even shed a tear. Her best friend had disowned her, and she hadn't even blinked at the thought. Now, here she was with a broken arm, and she didn't even well up and scream in pain. Granted, he was male, but he didn't even think that he could deal with that much stress. He wanted to ask her how she did it, but he felt that would be a little much for having just met her. Maybe one day he would ask her.

"I'm not leaving you here…like this," he finally said. "You're crazy if you think that. I'm the reason you're in here, and I'm not leaving until you leave with me. I feel awful."

"Don't. Please. That's only gonna make me feel bad. I'm ok. It's just a broken arm. I'll recover before the season starts, so everything's good."

Carl shook his head in disbelief. He was truly amazed. That's when the doctor came back in to set her arm in the cast.

"What color do you want for that cast?" the doctor asked. He was a jolly old man. "We have red, blue, green…ooh, I know. Pink. Wouldn't you like a pink cast?"

Nevada laughed and said, "Um, no. I'm gonna go with blue, I think."

The doctor promptly got to work on her cast. Once he was finished, the cast was neatly wrapped in bright blue, and Vot groaned when she saw it. _Why me?_ she thought to herself. _It just had to be my writing hand arm, didn't it? How the crap am I gonna sign my contract?_ She noticed Carl sitting in the corner looking down at the ground. She could tell that he was really upset, and that didn't help her feelings out at all. She didn't know what to say to him; she had already accepted his apology more times than necessary. Once the doctor finally gave her the ok to leave, she got up and walked over to where he sat.

"You ready? Doctor says I'm all set to go," she said to him as cheerfully as possible.

"Ok," he said with a dejected tone, despite Vot's attempt at cheerfulness. "You have to be starving. Where do you want to eat? I'll take you anywhere you wanna go, and I'm paying." She opened her mouth to object, but he stopped her before she could say anything. "I _broke_ your arm. It's the least I can do, and I will have no argument from you."

She tried to think of something to say, but accepted defeat. She couldn't really argue with that, even though she didn't want him to feel as though he owed her anything. It was just an accident, and she was pretty well used to having one more often than not.

Carl & Vot made their way back out to the waiting area of the airport where the same short woman was holding their luggage. Carl grabbed as many bags as he could so that Vot wouldn't have to carry any if possible. After bickering with each other for a few minutes, she won the battle and wound up with the big roll-around suitcase of Carl's. Though this annoyed Carl to a certain extent, there was no way he could have carried them all without having to make two trips, and she wasn't having that. They slowly made their way to Carl's black Ford Explorer Sport. Carl loaded the luggage and helped Vot inside the car. This was beginning to be unnerving to her. It wasn't that she minded him being so nice to her, but rather that he barely knew her and was treating her better than most of the people that had known her nearly her whole life. This just wasn't normal behavior. Of course, she couldn't completely justify _herself_ as being normal, so she really had no room to decide if someone was normal or not. Once Carl had everything situated to his liking, he slid into the driver's seat and cranked the Explorer.

"So, where do you wanna eat?" he asked as he turned down the blaring radio.

Vot shrugged her shoulders. She really hadn't given much thought as to where she wanted to eat. All she knew was that the bowl of cereal she had that morning was long gone, along with the invisible lunch she had eaten. "Wherever you're cool with. I really don't care; I'm just hungry. I could eat anywhere," she answered.

Carl shook his head and said, "Oh no. You're not gettin' off that easy. Pick. I mean it."

That did it. She was finally frustrated enough to say something to him about it. "Ok, look. I know you broke my arm, and I know that you feel bad about it. But it was an accident, and I'm very well acquainted with that sort of phenomenon. You don't have to be so nice to me. And if you're being nice to me because I've had a bad day anyway, then please don't do that either. I'm also very used to having those. Don't get me wrong; I'm glad that you're super nice and that we are gonna be teammates. You just need to lay off a little bit. Ok?" She stopped talking and realized that she had been kind of harsh. She was suddenly embarrassed about her outburst and immediately felt bad about what she had said.

Carl didn't say anything. He just nodded his head. They rode in silence for a few minutes until they hit the main part of town. Vot could see what seemed like a million different places to eat all the way down the street. Her stomach growled in response.

"McAllister's ok with you?" Carl asked. This was the first thing that he had said since Nevada spilled her frustrations on him.

"Yeah. I like McAllister's, so I'm good with that," she answered, again attempting to be cheerful. She had obviously hurt his feelings, but luckily he wasn't making a big fuss about it.

She climbed out of the passenger side of the Explorer, which she had secretly fallen in love with during their quiet ride. It was coal black on the exterior and an icy grey color on the interior. There was no doubt that it was the newest model you could get on the market. It had all the bells and whistles that you could get in a car, short of a luxury vehicle. She hurried to catch up to Carl who was walking at a pace much faster than hers. He was pretty famished himself since he hadn't eaten lunch either.

Once they were inside, they fell in the long line at the front counter and waited for their turn to order food. She wondered if she had lucked up and talked him out of paying for her food. She really wanted to apologize but didn't quite know what to say. The line of customers moved along slowly as her stomach was going crazy in response to the aroma of baking bread and fresh cut deli meat. The two stood beside each other in silence, not looking at each other. At about that time, a man came walking by in a hasty manner and bumped Vot's injured arm. It was in a cast, but that didn't change the tenderness of a newly broken arm. Trying not to scream in agony, she clenched her teeth and let out a small whimper. She had hoped that Carl hadn't noticed, but her luck had run out.

"Are you ok? Did that guy just run all over you?" Carl reached for her arm and touched the bright blue wrapping on the cast. He turned his head to scan the room for the man, but he had apparently been in a hurry to leave. Frustrated, Carl returned his attention to Vot, whose face had tightened again with pain. "Are you ok?" he asked again. She nodded her head stiffly. "Do you need some medicine?" he asked her, completely dismissing her nodding head. This time she shook her head quickly to say no. "Where is it? Is it in your purse or in the car?"

She finally gave in and answered, "In the car," quietly.

"I'll be back. Just keep our place in line." Carl made his way out of the long line and out the door to the parking lot. Vot looked after him and watched his brisk walk turn into something of a sprint.

_ What is his deal?_ she thought to herself as she shook her head. _No one is _ever_ this nice to me. Ever._

Carl found his way back to their spot in line, which had dwindled to the third person back. He dropped the bottle of pain medication in her purse and told her to take it after they started eating. She nodded her head in agreement, and, as before, they stood in silence, not looking at each other. Carl was finally next in line and stepped up to the cash register to place his order.

"I'll have a turkey club with honey mustard and mayonnaise, a bag of pepper corn chips, and a large Coke. And she'll have…" he turned to Vot so she could finish his sentence for him.

_ Dang it_, she thought to herself before she spoke aloud. "Um, I'll have a roast beef and cheese on wheat with mayonnaise and honey mustard and a large sweet tea. No chips." She cut Carl an annoyed look, then looked away.

The cashier rang up the total, and Carl paid her. Carl gestured for Vot to go ahead of him to find a table. Once they spotted one amongst the chattering people, Carl told her to sit and that he would go wait on the food.

_ Finally_, she thought. _Some time to myself so I can think._ She looked around the room at all the people and sighed. There were never this many people eating in one place at one time in any of the restaurants back where she was from. She continued to observe the room, with her eyes making their way from one corner to the next. She stopped when her eyes met Carl's looking right back at her. She smiled shyly, and he smiled back then turned away. _Well, he is adorable. I can give him that,_ she returned to her thoughts. _Why is he trying so hard? It's frustrating. Ugh. Hmm. Maybe he's just a good guy. I mean, I've never really seen one, so how would I know what one looks like?_ She chuckled under her breath at her own joke and sighed again. It wasn't until now that she had realized how exhausted she really was. She just wanted to lay down somewhere and sleep.

Carl had finally gotten their food and had brought it over to their table. Vot was starving, so she dove right into eating her sandwich.

"Don't forget to take those meds. Your arm has to be killing you right now. I can't believe how many jerks there are in this world that just don't pay attention to where they are going. They don't even notice other people around them. What ever happened to manners, ya know? My mama would slap me if she ever even thought I acted that way toward anyone..."

Nevada was chewing on a bite of her sandwich and was looking at him while he ranted on and on about rude people. _So he is just a good guy. Aw, now I feel bad for going all anal on him earlier,_ she thought. She didn't know what it was, but listening to him continuing to vent was amusing to her. She finally felt as though she could relax around him, much to her relief.

"…If he would have still been here, I would have said something. Seriously, you just don't go running all over people, whether they're hurt or not. Just gripes me, really." He finally paused a second when he realized that he had been rambling for a while and had not been interrupted. Much to his surprise, Vot was looking right at him, taking in every word. "What?" he finally said.

She shook her head and said, "Nothing. I was just listening to you talk." Embarrassed by her own statement, she looked down at the remaining half of her sandwich.

It had embarrassed Carl, too. He felt his face go warm and said, "Oh."

"Look, Carl—"

"Ok, I'm sorry. I'll stop venting. I didn't mean to be so smothering earlier, and I guess I'm doing it now, aren't I?"

Taken aback by his interruption, she slowly continued. "No, actually, I was gonna apologize for what I said earlier in the car. I realize now that you're just a genuinely good guy. I just freaked out a little because it's like the twilight zone or something for me. I was really enjoying listening to you…" she stopped awkwardly in mid-sentence, unsure of what else to say.

Both in a better mood, they finished their meals in silence. Once they were finished, Carl took their trays and dumped them in the trash can. They left McAllister's, and made their way out to Carl's Explorer. They hopped inside, and Vot said, "By the way, I'm in love with your car. It's amazing, and I have to say that I am completely jealous."

Carl laughed and said, "Well, good. You'll get your own new car when you sign that contract tomorrow…I mean, if you're able to."

She didn't understand. "What do you mean 'I'll get my own new car'?"

"We get a new car every year from Jack's dealership. It's kinda of an incentive and a thank you from him. It's been one of the better perks of the job. You get to pick whatever you want, too. I mean, aside from the GT and all that."

_No way,_ Vot thought to herself. _That's just too good to be true. What are the chances that I would have good luck and get a new Mustang on top of the signing bonus? Not possible._

"Hello?" Carl had apparently still been talking and had asked her a question. She was too busy not believing what she was hearing to pay attention.

"Oh, what? Sorry, I was zoned out for a second."

"I said, 'What car are you gonna get?'"

She thought for a second. There was only one car that she was gonna have if it came off of Jack's lot. "A Blackjack."

"Been wantin' one of those for a while, huh? You seem to pretty sure of what you want for not having looked all the cars over yet."

She shook her head. "You don't understand. I have been drooling over one of those cars since they went into production. I'm not passing up any chance to get one."

"Well, ok then. Sounds like you know what you want." There was an awkward silence, then Carl cleared his throat and said, "Anyway…um, what cell service do you have?"

Caught off guard, Vot took a second to answer. "Oh, uh, AT&T. Why?"

"Well," Carl said as he peeked at her out of the corner of is eye. "I just thought that there is an AT&T store on the way to the hotel, and I could stop so you can get a phone that works."

Nevada thought this was kind of random considering she had completely forgotten about her phone taking the plunge to never turn on or work again. Then it hit her. _He can't be serious! I am _not_ letting him buy me a phone! I barely know him!_ She then voiced her opinion to where he could hear. "Absolutely not. No!"

"What?" he said innocently. "Can't I just take you to the store so people can get a hold of you if they need you?"

"I'm not an idiot. I know what you're trying to do, and I'm not gonna let you. And if you think I am, you're crazy." She was determined not to budge on this one. He had bought her lunch, and that was more than enough.

"Oh, so you think that I'm gonna go in there with you and try to pay for a new phone for you. Wow, honestly?" Carl said, trying to hide the fact that he couldn't believe she could see right through him.

She kept her stern expression and waited.

"Ok, fine; you caught me. Look, you're gonna have a huge emergency room bill, and it's the least I can do, considering. I'm not trying to overdo it, I promise. Please, just let me buy you a new phone. Please?"

"No. End of story; don't ask me again."

Carl looked at her with a pleading expression, but he could tell it was hopeless. "Fine. I won't buy you a phone, but I will make it up to you over time, and there is _nothing_ that you can do about that."

"Really? Uh huh, we'll see…You can take me by the store. But only because I really do need a phone. So, that's that…ok?"

Carl grumbled under his breath, and rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said grumpily.

They rode in silence, so Vot had plenty of time to talk to herself in her head. _I don't get him. I just don't. He's insane! I don't know how I'm ever gonna be his teammate with him being like that. _She stared out the passenger side window as she wandered off in her thoughts. She glanced back at him out of the corner of her eyes. _At least he's unbearably cute. That should ease my pain a little. _ She smirked a little. _Like he would ever go for a mess like me. If he's smart, he'll stay far, far away._

Carl turned the Explorer into the parking lot of a small shopping center in downtown Charlotte. He took the closest parking space he could find relative to the cell phone store. Vot dug around in her purse to find her useless cell phone and got out of the car. They walked in and waited patiently for a representative to wait on them. While they waited, they chose to browse through the phones on display. Naturally, Vot avoided the more expensive phones so she wouldn't be tempted to try and buy one. She headed to the basic cell phones that ran relatively cheap. She needed something that she could simply talk, maybe text on and nothing more extravagant than that. Carl, however, was headed in the opposite direction.

_ Hmm…I bet she would like this phone, _he thought. "Hey…" he turned to ask her about the phone he had spotted, but she wasn't behind him. He scanned the room and finally spotted her over by the flip phones. _What is she doing over there?_ He walked over to where she was and said, "Hey, I found a phone that looks pretty cool over there that you might like."

She let out a small laugh, "Um, no. I'll be sticking to the basics. I just need something that will call people and let people call me. Texting is a plus. I think I may get this one. At least it's blue."

"Why don't you want one from over there? I noticed that the cell phone you have…the dead one…is actually pretty high tech. Why would you want a downgrade?"

"Because…if you must know, I just want a cheap one to get me by till I get settled in at RFR. So just let me get the phone, and we can leave. You think you can do that?" She said this with an ever-so-slight hint of sarcasm to her tone.

He rolled his eyes, and held his hands in the air as if to surrender. A representative finally came over to them and asked if they needed any help. Vot explained her situation and purchased the phone she had originally picked out. When she was ready to go, she turned around to talk to Carl, but he had disappeared. She grumbled under her breath. _Where is he now?_

Just as she was about to start looking for him, her new phone rang. She looked down at the caller ID. She didn't recognize the number. "Hello?" she answered.

"Hi." It was Carl.

"Where are you...and how did you get my number?"

"In the car. Just thought I'd be the first to call you on your new phone...Oh, you gave it to the people at the emergency rooms like three times. I kinda remembered it..."

She looked out the window. She could barely see him inside the Explorer, but she could tell he was smiling. She couldn't think of anything else to say, so she closed the phone and headed his way. She got to the Explorer, opened the door, and climbed inside with Carl.

"You ready?" he asked.

She nodded her head yes, and he put the car in gear and headed to her hotel. It wasn't very far from the store, so it only took a few minutes. On the way there, they talked about various things: being teammates, how to do interviews for the media, how to deal with fans, etc. Once they finally arrived at the hotel, Carl offered to carry her bags for her. She wanted to refuse, as she felt that she had troubled him enough for one day, but she was in no position to say no since she couldn't very well carry them herself. He followed Vot up to her room. She swiped the key and pointed him to where to put her bags. They stood there for a few minutes in silence when she finally spoke.

"Hey, look. I just wanna say thank you for everything. You've really been awesome. You were so nice to me, and you didn't have to be. I mean, even though you broke my arm," she paused for a quick smile to show the humorous nature to the remark. "I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier. I was a little confused, but I'm glad I met you today, and I'm glad we're gonna be teammates. I don't think I could ask for a better one to get my career started with."

Carl mulled over her comments for a second. "Well, I'm glad that I met you today, too. I think you're gonna be an amazing teammate, and one heck of a driver. You're stubborn, and that's good if you're gonna be competitive. And please don't bring up the being nice thing. I don't mind. Good people deserve someone to treat them well. And you're a good person." He smiled a little smile then turned his face away when he felt his cheeks go warm.

Vot couldn't hide the fact that she was blushing a little. _Awkwaaard,_ she thought. _Why does he have to be so flippin' cute? Oh, please leave…I don't know how much more of this I can take right now._

"Ok, so, I guess I'm gonna go now. I'll see you tomorrow, maybe?"

"Um, will I? I mean, are you gonna be there?" She gave him a weird look.

"Yeah, I'll be there. Especially since I know you now. So…see you tomorrow, then. Have a good night, and make sure you take those meds. We need you to be healed up fast…Oh, I almost forgot." Carl reached in his pocket and pulled out two markers: a black and silver Sharpie. He chose the silver Sharpie, and pulled the cap off. "I've _gotta_ sign that cast." Vot rolled her eyes as he gently took her broken arm and steadied it to sign it. When he was done, she did her best to twist her arm around to where she could read what he had written.

It read: _'My Masterpiece' by Carl Edwards ©2009._

Vot gave a short laugh and shook her head. "You're a piece a work, you know that right?...I'll see you tomorrow. Be careful going home." She showed him to the door, and she was alone at last. She looked out the window to the parking lot and watched him pull out of the driveway. It wasn't until then that she really took in what time it was. It was very dark outside, so it had to be relatively late. She looked at the clock on her new phone, and it read 9:55. Simply looking at the time made her feel even more exhausted than she already was. It was time for bed. She had a big day ahead of her.


End file.
